Gill ventilation, gas exchange, and survival in the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.)

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Abstract
The hypothesis that mackerel are dependent on ram ventilation for adequate gas exchange is disproved by experiments in which oxygen tensions and concentrations, pH, and carbon dioxide concentrations are measured in arterial blood. No significant differences are found in blood samples taken from swimming and nonswimming animals in a swim tunnel. The latter show active breathing movements of the type usually encountered in teleosts. Mackerel held either in the swim tunnel or in a large storage tank are able to restore plasma lactate levels to normal, even after procedures to cannulate the dorsal aorta or the severe trauma of being caught in a trawl. Such fish do, however, show a colour change from yellow to blue, an increased permeability to sodium ions, and evidence of considerable integumental damage. Abrasion of an extremely delicate integument is more likely to be the primary cause of death in mackerel held at high densities in nets or in other situations than is a failure of the gas exchange process and the accumulation of metabolic products such as lactic acid.
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